From The Ashes

Is your business REALLY ready for social media?

2012-01-12T02:44:00.000-08:00

To quote Sandy Carter, Vice President of Social Business Evangelism at IBM, “Culture eats strategy for lunch!”

If your business is not ready to share information internally or hear some not-so-wonderful messages from your customers, then all your best laid social marketing plans may just come to naught.

You don’t have to look too far to find examples of brands that have removed customer comments from their Facebook pages or shutdown campaigns all together because they haven’t received the answers they wanted or expected.

Marketers often bemoan the fact that they’re finding it difficult to get their colleagues and managers to “buy in” to social media and as we all know, it’s impossible to run an effective SM program if the marketing team are the only people driving things forward. Everyone needs to be involved in some way.

So before you embark on planning a knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark social media strategy, do yourself a favour and analyze your company’s culture. What is the speed of your decision making process and who are the people allowed to make the decisions? Social media isn’t going to wait around while your board of directors create that perfectly crafted answer – you’ll need to act fast and with decisiveness.

Sandy shared a sample of IBM’s culture checklist on her blog yesterday :

Some particularly important areas to note are:

Learning – are employees and managers willing and enthusiastic to learn new skills or are they trying to avoid having to step into the unknown? It can be especially difficult to get older generations of employees involved in SM because they don’t understand how it works and are loath to invest the time to do so.

Horizontal Communications – are you able to pick up the phone and ask that guy in the stock room whether they have a bath towel in all three colours or do you have to send a memo to his manager first? Is Information shared freely through easily accessible channels or do you have to fill out a form to request an update on a customer complaint?

Boundaries – are employees and managers able to operate and make suggestions outside of their fields of expertise or are your R&D meetings for the R&D team alone? Marketers and customer service staff are often able to offer extremely valuable ideas about other areas of operation, but are they willing to listen? Or is it a case of “you do your job and I’ll do mine”?

Taking the time to analyze and understand your company’s culture – and taking steps to change it if needs be – is the first step in ensuring an enduringly successful social media strategy.

You can follow Sandy Carters blog at www.socialbusinesssandy.com and get yourself a copy of her book, GET BOLD - Using Social Media to Create a New Type of Social Business, here.

How to register your company's website domain name

2012-01-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

I was more than a little annoyed to discover that a friend of mine who is a small business owner recently paid a “web developer” R600.00 ($75 or £45) to register his business’s domain online – that’s EXCLUDING the hosting company’s domain registration fee. Ludicrous! R600.00 for something that probably took the developer about 5 minutes to do. This small business owner could easily have done it himself had he not been totally intimidated by the task.

So in the interests of saving you a few bucks, here’s a quick guide to registering a domain name. But first a few definitions :

ISP – Your Internet service provider i.e. the company that provides you with your Internet access. In South Africa that could be MWEB, WebAfrica, Polka, Telkom, ect. Your ISP does not have to be the same as the company who hosts your webpage.

Hosting - In order for people all over the world to access your website at any time they want to, it has to be kept somewhere – this is where your hosting company comes in. They keep your webpage on their server and make sure it’s available when its URL (www.myfabulousbusiness) is entered into a web browser.

Domain Name – that’s basically the name (or address) of your webpage e.g. wehavesmellysocks.co.za - “.co.za” is a country code Top Level Domain and “wehavesmellysocks” is a second level domain. (.com is a is generic Top Level Domain.)

Subdomains – these are third level domains that help you organise the content on your site. Kind of like subfolders in a big file. You don’t need to register subdomains. You can also use the URL of a subdomain to send visitors directly to a certain page they require.

Most hosting companies in South Africa charge between R79.00 – R99.00 per annum for a co.za domain name. .Com and .biz are pricier, but there isn’t really any difference between them anyway – these top level domains are used to indicate your geographical location (za is South Africa) or type of organisation (.org is a non-profit.)

The great news is that you can register your domain name as soon as you’ve decided what your business name is (and before someone else snaps it up). You can also “park” it until you are ready to start building your website without paying any hosting charges. Most hosting companies will allow this for free. I have been told that a number of companies frown on this practice because of domain squatting - which is registering a domain name with the hopes of selling it for profit one day when the brand / company whose name you are using, wants to register. Double check this with whichever hosting company you are planning to use.

And even better news is that if you decide that you want to use Company B to host your website after you’ve already registered your domain with Company A – you can simply transfer your domain to the new hosting company. This will also usually be done free-of-charge.

Now that you know all that stuff, all that remains for you to do is check whether the domain name you want is available.

Simply visit the domain registration site of your choice – we recommed Hetzner or Webafrica – and navigate to the “domain registration” page. Both sites will give you a search bar where you can check whether the domain you want is available. If it is, great stuff. Enter your billing details and you’re the proud owner of a shiny new domain name!

If not, either consider variations on the name you were hoping for or visit the co.za Domain Administration site here. Enter the domain name in question in the specified area and the site will provide you with the details of the registered owner. You could then contact him/her to find out if they’re willing to sell the domain name to you.

See. Easy-peasy. Here’s hoping we saved you 600 bucks!

What is social media?

2012-01-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

If you Google the term social media you’re likely to have come across hundreds of definitions – some of which make sense, some of which don’t. The one that I’ve found best describes what it is - most succinctly (and in my mind, correctly) - comes from The Social Media Guide :

“Social media is user generated content Articles, pictures, videos, sound clips and other media that is posted/uploaded to a website that has been created by the users of that website is called user generated content. Wikipedia, for example, is entirely made up of articles written by users who have sufficient knowledge on the subject they are writing about. It differs from the content published on a business’s website which has usually been written by the business owner, marketing team or web developer. that is shared over the internet via technologies that promote engagement, sharing and collaboration.”

A social media site any website where you to interact with other visitors to the site using different forms of media e.g. picture, video, sound and words.

Social media websites can be organized into broad categories and we’ll look at those next.

5 things every entrepreneur should know

2011-11-21T04:39:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of spending a few hours in the company of 3 great South African entrepreneurs at the Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week Open Day. Lessons were plentiful, but here are 5 that really stood out for me.

1. Sometimes you need to have really big family jewels

And I’m not talking the shiny pawn shop kind. Founder of African Star Communications, Farah Fortune, quit her job, paid her bills, registered a CC and pitched to her first big client – all within one month and with the last R1 000.00 in her pocket. If she failed she would most likely have been out on the street, jobless and penniless. That takes balls. In bucket loads. But it paid off. Fear is often what keeps us from achieving great things. Take a risk. They’re invigorating.

2. It’s OK to cry

Well, he said he ALMOST cried. But graphic designer/illustrator/all-round-creative-wunderkind, Daniel Ting Chong, would have been forgiven for shedding a tear or two when his submission for a New York Times Magazine cover on Somalian pirates wasn’t picked as the final design. It’s OK to be disappointed when you don’t achieve the result you wanted, but don’t give up on pursuing it. Sometimes even achieving a result is a success. The happy ending to this story is that Daniel was contacted a few weeks later and asked to do another design which went into a NYTimes Key Issue about the city of São Paulo. See, you just never know when all that hard work will pay off.

3. Sweat the small stuff

The slide came up, the man spoke, I heard angelic song as an ah-ha moment a la Oprah swept the room. Thank you Abey Mokgwatsane of VWV for what I feel was possibly the most valuable bit of wisdom of the day – EVERYTHING COMMUNICATES! Everything says something about you. Not just the expensive in-your-face stuff. The small stuff too. You’ve spend thousands of Rands on the soft white leather couches in your slick office entrance foyer, but your security guard’s uniform has seen better days – about 5 years ago (a great example Abey – we can all identify with that one.) That says a lot to potential clients. It says, “I don’t pay attention to detail” and “I’m not too concerned with the little people”. In a time where consumers are spoiled for choice, sometimes it’s the really little things that make the big difference. And that isn’t just true for customers – think investors, employees and suppliers too.

4. Balance isn’t just a skill for tightrope walkers

I rarely tweet or post business content on weekends. I try not to even turn my computer on from Friday to Sunday evening. And I feel so guilty. Shouldn’t I be working at my new business 24/7? Am I losing valuable opportunities? It’s has been a source of great anxiety, so Farah’s mention of the importance of balancing your entrepreneurial life with your personal one was an important affirmation. And her message is clear. Financial and business successes are hollow if you don’t have someone to share them with. We know this, yet it’s a mistake we make time and time again. You still need to be a father/mother, husband/wife, daughter/son, aunty/uncle, boyfriend/girlfriend. Your relationship with your spouse is just as important, dare I say more so, than the one with your bank manager. Don’t forget it.

5. Sometimes the greatest reward is found in paying it forward

If at some stage in the future I get the opportunity to address a group of aspiring entrepreneurs and inspire them as much as these three people did - I would undoubtedly consider it one of my greatest career successes. By sharing their experiences and advice, Farah, Daniel and Abey have had a far reaching effect on not only the people in the room, but their families, their communities and on South Africa as a whole. By sharing their knowledge they have helped address some of SA’s biggest challenges - job creation and economic growth. Never underestimate the impact you can have by sharing YOUR experiences too. Join an online community like www.mysmallbusiness.co.za, start a blog, run a free workshop, do something to engage and inspire others. Remember where you started and pay it forward.

Farah Fortune is the founder and director of African Star Communications, was voted one of Mail&Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans in 2011 and is most importantly, a mom .

@fcfortune www.africanstar.co.za

Daniel Ting Chong is a Cape Town based illustrator, designer, artist and VJ/DJ, has produced work commissioned by Bacardi, Discovery Channel and Levi’s to name a few and is living proof that “it’s always the quiet ones.”

@danieltingchong www.danieltingchong.com

Abey Mokgwatsane is the CEO of the VWV Group - a global brand experience agency, the founder & director of Young Business for South Africa (YBSA), the founder of The Thought Leadership Initiative, the co-founder of The Experiential Association of South Africa (EXASA) and a really funny guy.

@abeyphonogenic www.abeymokgwatsane.com

Another 5 FREE online tools you should be using for your business

2011-11-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

I've recently started using so many online tools to make my life easier that my previous post about 5 of them wasn't nearly enough! Here are 5 more I couldn't do without :

1. Buffer

www.bufferapp.com

Buffer is very similar to Hootsuite (previous article) in that it allows you to schedule your posts on Facebook and Twitter. There are also add-on’s for your browser which enable you to add articles to your Buffer straight from the page and because of its Twitter integration you can also schedule retweets straight from your Twitter page. Now staying engaged couldn’t be easier.

2. Teamviewer

www.teamviewer.com

I have a client whom I absolutely love, but she does tend to phone me for help with even the smallest software glitches or problems. It’s often difficult to explain what to do over the phone and I couldn’t go to her office every time she needed help (or she’d be broke.) She’s installed an app called Teamviewer which enables me to log onto her computer remotely from my PC and do whatever I need to. Make sure you set it up so it asks your permission before anyone can log onto your PC. You can see every move the person performs on your screen as it happens. You can even set it up to allow you to log on to your office computer while you’re at home or via the web from anywhere else in the world.

3. Simplybook.me

Simplybook.me

This is a powerful tool for those in the service industry. Your customers can go online to your unique Simplybook.me url and book appointments with you. You can add a “book now” button to your webpage or your can integrate the app into your Facebook page. Additional features include sms reminders, Paypal support and an image gallery.

4. Bitly

www.bitly.com

I really don’t like including long links in my e-mails and social network postings because they tend to look untidy and they take up a lot of space. Bitly is used to shorten a long URL, share it, and then track the number of clicks that link gets.

“bitly works by issuing a "301 redirect": a technique for making a webpage available under many URLs. When you shorten a link with bitly, you are redirecting a click from bitly to the destination URL. A 301 redirect is the most efficient and search engine-friendly method for webpage redirection, and is what bitly uses. Because bitly doesn’t re-use or modify links, we consider our redirects to be permanent.”

5. Evernote

www.evernote.com

I’m really trying to keep my business as paperless as possible and Evernote helps me do that. It also manages my bookmarks, stores files and images, allows me to make voice or text notes, clips text from webpages that I find interesting and want to use later, creates grocery lists, and, and, and … the list is endless. Evernote is EXACTLY what you need to get organised.

Take a look at all Evernotes features here.

Do you have any online tools that you find really useful? Share them with us in the comments section!

5 FREE online tools you should be using for your business

2011-11-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

Most small business owners are in the same boat – short on funds, hands and time. Here are 10 FREE online applications that I use to get organised, save time and save money.

1. Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

How many times have you sent an e-mail that is returned or undelivered because the file size is too big? Sick of waiting ages for your mail client to send/receive that 2MB e-mail? Worried that if your laptop is stolen, you’ll lose all that work?

Download Dropbox to your PC and the app will create a new folder where you can store all the files you want to share including documents, photos and videos (there is an option for private folders.) Instead of e-mailing files, you can simply ask client or employee to download the application and all your shared files will be available to them almost immediately. You can install Dropbox to your laptop, mobile phone and desktop computer and files will all be synchronised – make a change to one file version and it will make the change to the others. My personal favourite is the fact that I can access these files anywhere, at anytime, on any PC - simply by logging into Dropboxes website.

Take a video tour of Dropbox here.

2. Skype

www.skype.com

Every penny counts, so I love businesses that allow me to call them using a Skype profile – imagine what you’re saving in phone bills being able to talk for free. Conference call other Skype profiles for nothing or add a phone or mobile at a reasonable cost. Out of the office? Never fear, Skype is available for mobiles. The share screen function is fantastic for online meetings – but if I do need to e-mail a file, I can do that through Skype too. SMS, video conferencing and instant messaging. Skype has it all.

3. Surveymonkey

www.surveymonkey.com

Big business uses Surveymonkey and so can you. Create an online survey of up to 10 questions and with 100 responses for free before you have to start a new one. There are 30 survey templates to choose from or you can create your own. Answers can be multiple choice, one word answers or full comments/suggestions. You can share your survey through various social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter or by e-mail or even via a webpage pop-up. What amazes me is that upgrading to an account allowing unlimited questions, up to 1 000 responses and downloadable results only costs R200.00 per month.

4. Hootsuite

www.hootsuite.com

The biggest excuse I hear from people NOT using social networking for business is that they don’t have the time. There are so many Facebook business pages that were created with great intentions, but hardly have any posts or owner engagement. Posting consistency is vital to any social network marketing campaign. Hootsuite allows you to schedule posts on a variety of SN channels including Facebook and Twitter. You can spend an hour or two on a Sunday evening creating posts for the week and scheduling them for posting at optimal times. The free version allows for up to 5 SN channels per user and you can upload links, pictures and video for posting as well as track click stats and retweets. Don’t become completely reliant on it though – a few real time posts during the week (when you have the time) is a good idea.

5. MailChimp

www.mailchimp.com

This little monkey is a powerful tool used to design e-mail campaigns and manage your mailing lists. The choice of features is initially mind boggling, but take the time to read through their series of boot camp e-mail tips and you’ll be designing sending out professional looking campaigns in no time. I find their support and FAQ topics extremely interesting and helpful in understanding things like spam filters, ect. plus there are about 10 MailChimp guides in their resources section to help get you on your way.

You can also read our article : Another 5 FREE online tools you should be using for your business.

How to turn a complaining customer into a brand ambassador

2011-11-07T02:07:00.000-08:00

I hate complaining. I really do. So when I do express my dissatisfaction with a product or service, you should know that I have had a monologue going on in my head for quite a while. I have infuriated myself to the point where I have to either verbalise it or be arrested for inflicting grievous bodily harm upon the nearest innocent bystander.

It actually takes quite a lot of aggravation before a customer complains – most will keep quiet and simply buy from your competitor or they’ll tell all their friends and family about their bad experience thus ensuring that a whole heap of people will never even give you a chance. So when a customer complains, believe it or not – they are doing you a FAVOUR!

They’re giving you the chance to prove that despite whatever slip up may have occurred, your business is in fact reliable, professional and capable of delivering what it has promised. They are probably expecting you to be defensive, apathetic or (and this is my favourite) just be completely ignored until they give up and go away. So imagine their surprise when you treat their complaint as a wonderful opportunity to prove how great your customer service really is. And here’s how :

1. Listen

Let the customer have his say. Don’t interrupt. Don’t argue. Stay clam. More often than not, he wants to vent his anger (or in my case, deliver my perfected and scathing monologue) after which his anger will lose momentum and the situation will be far calmer. And really listen. Gather all the facts. Take notes if you have to. Having to repeat an account number for the fourth time because you haven’t written it down is r.e.a.l.l.y. f.r.u.s.t.r.a.t.i.n.g.

2. Apologise

Be sincere. A simple apology can diffuse the most difficult situations. This is not about who is to blame. You’re sorry that he is unhappy. Whose fault it is, is irrelevant right now. And for goodness sake, don’t blame another person or department – how your internal systems/policies/procedures/politics works has got nothing to do with him. (Although if you do know that the problem/situation IS in fact your businesses fault, admitting as much and apologising will earn you HUGE respect and trust.)

3. Take Action

Immediately. Be decisive. Solve the problem, or find someone who can solve it - quickly! If you’re unsure about how to proceed, ask “What would be an acceptable solution to you?” Don’t be offended if he wants to speak to your manager/the owner. People need to feel like their issue is being treated with the importance it deserves and sometimes that means taking it to management. To managers/owners/CEO’s – I am your customer, hence the reason that you take home a pay check every month. I deserve your attention – don’t avoid me or make frontline staff members play messenger. It just makes you look sloppy and uncaring and it’s a surefire way of getting me to take my business elsewhere.

4. Follow Up

Do you really, really, really want to hit the customer service ball out of the park? Call back the next day and find out if he is satisfied with the solution/replacement. Is there anything else you can do? Make sure that promises have been kept. Did he receive the gift voucher in the post? Did that e-mail with his new order come though? Has the regional sales manager called? If not, follow up again and make sure it happens. You’ve worked too hard to drop the ball now.

It’s a good idea to start monitoring your company’s reputation online and on social networking sites too. More and more people chose to use these channels to rant about poor service and you may be able to use it in your favour with some well managed PR.

Some of the most loyal and long standing customers/friends/associates I have today are people I have met while resolving customer complaints. They feel secure when doing business with me because they know that if something goes wrong, I’ll be able to solve the problem decisively and with the minimum amount of trauma. It’s a personal and professional challenge to make them happy again. Make it yours too!

Tough financial times? Now is NOT the time to cut your marketing budget.

2011-10-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

Early this week I found out about yet another friend in the marketing industry that has been retrenched. Not just herself, but the entire marketing team of 4 people - one of which has been with the company for 20 years.

It's a topic that affects me personally having recently been 'let go' from my dream job - marketing a museum on a World Heritage Site (yes, I'm a bit of a museum nerd.) Trust me when I say that I didn't go quietly. I wrote every report and pulled every figure that I could think of to convince the company that getting rid of their marketing department (i.e. me) would not benefit them in the long term and would quite possibly be detrimental. But to no avail. The decision had been made.

Something people often forget is that marketing is an investment of both money and time. Marketers often spend weeks and months developing strategies and relationships to benefit the business that many only come to fruition a few months down the line. By not committing to these relationships and strategies or cutting them entirely, you've not only lost out on the reaping the benefits, but also all the hard work that you've already paid for.

I know times are tough, but whatever you do - Don't Stop Marketing! I know that technically we're supposed to be out of the recession, but many businesses are still feeling the crunch and will continue to do so for a while so I've written this post with tough financial times and recession in mind.

"Consider this - if you in fact cut (stop) your marketing budget, how will your consumers find you? You have severed your business lifeline and future hope of potential growth," says Laura Lake, About.com's marketing guru.

We're not the only people who think so. Take a look at some of these online articles :

"It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times." says Professor John Quelch of the Harvard Business School.

One strategy is obviously not going to suit every size and type of business. Small and medium sized concerns don't usually have the cash reserves to keep them going that larger ones do, but this doesn't mean that all is lost. You'll just have to learn to get smarter with the money you have. And remember : the money you spend on marketing is not an expense, it's an investment.

I've found some wonderful online articles and resources for small businesses which I will list below, but some things I wanted to point out are :

Social networking is not "absolutely free" : It may not cost you rands and cents, but you will certainly have to put in a lot of time - especially if you're new to it. Decide whether you really have the time to spend on it or if it would make more sense to outsource. Everyone is feeling the pinch and you can probably find someone to manage it at a pretty reasonable price.

Know what you want to accomplish : Spending a few minutes setting specific goals will save you hours (and cash) in the long run. Do you want more followers on your Facebook page? Do you want more people to visit your store on Saturdays? Do you want to sell those last few items in a discontinued range? Your campaign strategy will be far more effective when you have a clear idea of what you want your result to be.

Always calculate your ROI : How do you know if your marketing has generated hard cash? You have to regularly assess your return on investment to make sure that you nip under performing campaigns in the bud before they cost you too much money. What about print advertising? Create ads that include a response from your customers. For example, ask a customer to clip a coupon, present the advertisment to get the deal, or something that gets you a physical piece of your advertisement. Instruct your sales staff that when customers turn in their "Ad" or coupon, they must write how much money the customer spent on the back of those ads and coupons.

At the end of the promotion, gather up all the ads/coupons turned in, and add up the sales generated. Did it cover the costs of the ad design and printing?

How to calculate ROI

When in doubt Google it : You'll be surprised how much free expert advice and information you can find online. Be smart about it of course - don't take one article as gospel - research your topic over a couple of sites and forums. You can save a lot of time and money using tools and advice that people like me are giving away for free. Use it! That's what it's there for.

And last, but certainly not least - if you absolutely have to make some staff cutbacks, do it gently. Have you really reached your last resort? Employees will often be willing to cut back to working part time or even take a pay cut in order to keep their jobs. (Always make sure you follow labour laws and conditions when negotiating changes in employment contracts.) Empathise. We're all weathering this tough economic climate together.

P.S. (And if you're really decent they probably won't write "I told you so" blog posts like this and make you look like the guy who told Elvis he couldn't sing. Doh!)

My top Articles on Marketing for Small Businesses :

Top 10 Social Media Tips for Small Business Marketing

Ten Powerful Marketing Tips for the Small Business

Five No-Cost Marketing Tips

27 Low to No Cost Marketing Ideas for Your Small Business

You are also welcome to join my Facebook page where I post daily articles on Marketing and Social Networking for businesses or follow me on Twitter (@firebird_rising)

Hello, it's me! Your customer?

2011-10-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy starting blogs, designing logos and 'Facebooking' all my new clients that I've taken ages to get around to starting my own, but after reading a post in a marketing forum today I thought "I have to write something about this today!" So here we are.

The post was made in a small business forum and asked the million dollar question - 'how do small businesses and start ups market on a limited budget'. If I had a penny ...

Now before impart my great wisdom (said with humour) to the cyber universe, I'd like to say that I don't have a marketing degree. I have never worked for a huge multinational with hundreds of thousands to spend on flash marketing campaigns. I've learned what I know from a career in the hospitality industry (where you engage with your customer 24/7). It slowly progressed into a career helping businesses learn to market themselves, not just their products.

One of AVIS Rent-a-car's old campaigns said it beautifully - "To us, people will always be more important than cars." That slogan was so wonderful I almost wanted it tattooed on my forehead. I mean 'duh!' Everyone is always asking how to gain new customers, what's the best way to advertise, how will people learn about my business? MY first response is "how are you treating your existing customers? Are they advertising your business for you?" Have you created "brand loyalty"? It makes complete sense doesn't it? Your existing customers have bought/used your product or service before and if they were happy, it makes sense that they would buy from you again. Often owners and managers are so focused on grabbing that new prospect that they forget that it's far cheaper to get someone to use your product/service again. You've got them to cross the line already. Now you need to keep them on your side.

I was looking for a groomer for my Siamese cat about two years ago. There are only two parlours who are able to care for Siamese cats in my neighbourhood so I phoned both of them. Both charged the same, but The Groom Room offered a pick up service for an extra fee. Sold! My (rather spoiled) kitty came home looking gorgeous and I was really happy with the service I received. I was pleasantly surprised when four weeks later I received an SMS reminding me that Pepper was due for a groom and I would I like to make an appointment. Of course I did and I've never had to put 'make an appointment for grooming' on my calendar since. Karen greets Pepper and I by name and she's always very understanding if I'm stuck at an appointment and have to delay having him dropped off again. Nothing is too much trouble. Now THAT is good marketing. They've made it so easy for me to use their services again and again that I don't think twice any more.

Here are a few good ways of getting those return customers and word-of-mouth referrals :

Personalisation - get to know your client on a one-to-one basis. Think quality not quantity. Rather spend a few minutes on the phone with one client developing a real relationship, than hours sending bulk e-mails to people who have never heard of you. They'll begin to trust that you honestly care about their needs and be more likely to recommend you.

In a business environment where we are all expected to do things faster, customers place a higher value in brands willing to take time out to get to know them.

Courtesies - Christmas/eid/kwanza cards, birthday cards, anything that demonstrates their value to you.

Redirecting and Upselling - suggest additional products that a client may be interested in based on what you know their needs are. Explain WHY you're suggesting them (make sure your reasons are legit.) Offer accessories that go with the product they are buying. Remember that it's a suggestion - don't hard sell. Don't be obnoxious. When performed correctly, upselling is a powerful sales tool that often gets a positive response.

After sales service - sms/e-mail reminders, informative newsletters, helpful tips on your social networking sites, a follow up phone call to ask if your customer is happy with what they've purchased (and follow up if they're not). If you're afraid of making a follow up phone call then clearly you know that there was something wrong with the service/product you delivered - fix it. Be proactive, not reactive. How can you save your customer time and make it as easy as possible for them to use your product/service?

Give a little more than you promise - Under-promise and over-deliver. What value added services/gifts can you add to your product that customers will appreciate? People love getting gifts that they don't expect, no matter how small.

Train yourself and your staff to handle complaints effectively - I'm going to make this the topic of a separate blog post because it's such an important subject. People tell their friends about bad experiences more often than they tell them about positive ones. Indisputable fact. What most businesses don't seem to realise is that by dealing with a complaint effectively and demonstrating your commitment to ensure that your customer walks away happy, you can gain some of your most loyal clients. Consider complaints as an opportunity to show how GREAT your customer service really is.

As a parting thought I leave you with this quote from Laura Wheeler, co-owner of Firelight Business Enterprises:

"Marketing to existing customers should be based on principles of appreciation, courtesy, consideration and personal touches. It should never be motivated out of greed on your part - no matter how you think you hid it, if you hit them up again out of greed, you'll give yourself away, and they'll know it. Think about things from their point of view."